


Domestic and Loving It

by Bam4Me



Series: A Million Ways To Enter a Big/Little Relationship [18]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Ageplay, Alternate Universe - Neal Is A Children's Book Illustrator, BDSM, Dom Peter, Dom/dom/sub, Domme El, Gen, Multi, Neal is a famous artist for children's works, Neal is a full time little mostly, Neal is an adorable baby, Non-Sexual Age Play, Non-Sexual Kink, Non-Sexual Submission, Peter and El meet him on an AB chat forum and end up in a relationship with him, well baby - teenager pretty much all of it, will have sequels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 07:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5776693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal Caffrey was the worlds cutest little ever. Seriously, El was VERY taken with this little boy. HER little boy. Peter never admits it's but he might be even more taken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Domestic and Loving It

**Author's Note:**

> ageninenine.tumblr.com is a blog that I am integrating for White Collar, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and Criminal Minds ageplay. Come check it out, give me ideas, talk to me. Really, talk to me. I'm so lonely.

They’d met him on an AB chat forum. His name is Neal, and he was a children’s book illustrator who was currently living with his best friend in an apartment in the city. It was actually fairly close to Peter’s work, and so going to see him wasn’t even hard to find time for.

 

Peter and El had been looking for a full time little for years now. Neal just seemed perfect though. From when Peter and him had talked, Peter had nearly tripped over himself when he realized just how much he was _needing_ to be Neal’s friend. Even if this didn’t work out between the three of them, Peter felt the same draw to him that he’d felt over five years ago when he met Elizabeth, that magnetic _need_ to be around them, to be their best friend.

 

If this hadn’t have worked out, Peter would have been devastated, and El agreed with him whole heartedly.

 

Neal was a little. Just the one they had been looking for for years. He was young enough in his deepest headspace to need Mommy and Daddy to take care of him, but only big enough in his biggest headspace to be a bratty young teenager.

 

Turns out, he thought of his roommate as a brother, and that was a mutual feeling, but Neal said that Mozzie was no daddy.

 

Mozzie... was an interesting character. Mozzie was like... actually, Peter is gonna stop right there, he’s not gonna say anything bad about him, because one time Neal thought he was going to insult him, and Neal acted like Peter had kicked a dog for the whole day towards him. He was a clingy little blighter on Mommy though, stuck to her side like glue.

 

Christ, he was so damn adorable. There was no set schedule with them all, Neal had made it very clear from the beginning, that he could fully well be an adult if he needed to, and Peter and El both worked full time, they had neither the time or need to confine him to a completely little role in their lives.

 

El had already fallen for this man hard, and Peter probably wouldn’t admit it, but she thinks he fell first, and has probably fallen harder. Neal just had this way about him, big smiles and bright eyes that makes Peter spoil him a _lot_ more than he probably should, and a bubbly cheerfulness that reminds El enough of Satchmo to want to snuggle him to death and always lets him help out.

 

Neal was sitting on the floor with Satchmo smudged against his side right now, playing with a bright blue gameboy. His tongue was sticking out and it was literally the most adorable thing ever. Peter is _pretty_ sure that if you could die from cute, then he would die from cute. Neal was maybe between eight and twelve right now, but he was still a very little boy. Little boys should not be left alone if it can be helped.

 

He felt like a total heel right now. Peter frowned and knelt next to the playing boy, putting a soothing hand on Neal’s neck like the boy liked. “Hey, sweet boy.”

 

Neal paused his game, politely giving his Daddy his full attention like a good boy. Neal was always such a good boy. “Hi, Daddy! How’re you?”

 

Peter smiled, “I... I’m sorry, sweetie. Daddy got called into work today. I know you were looking forward to playing with Daddy today, but I can’t.”

 

Neal’s lips turned into a saddened frown, and those big eyes lost some shine. Peter felt his heart clench in both sorrow and anger at his baby looking so little and upset. “It’s okay, Daddy, I can stay home alone.”

 

Neal had recently moved in with his Mommy and Daddy, and this was the first weekend after them settling in that El had been called out of town for something. She had been so worried. Of course, Neal wasn’t little 24/7, and they loved big Neal just as much as little, but it was still tough.

 

She was quickly becoming accustomed to being called ‘Mommy’ when Neal talked to her, and it was the most amazing thing ever. She had been wanting this for so long, and she finally had it.

 

Neal was looking so sad right now, Peter just couldn’t leave him. He looked over at his phone and got an idea.

 

“Hey, sweet boy, how much do you know about forgeries?”

 

Neal’s eyes brightened up a little. That was another thing that made Peter want to keep him forever. He was smart, and we all know how much Peter loves smart.

 

“Lots and lots.”

 

***

 

This was actually the first time that Peter’s co-workers were meeting Neal, and there was a very good possibility that he’d get told off by Hughes for it, but Peter didn’t care about that as much as he should have. If anything came up, he could always just tell them he was bringing on Neal right now for a second opinion.

 

He let Neal into Peter’s office before heading over to the briefing room. He’d handed Neal a file with as much info as he could get away with before sending him in, asking him to look over what he could before Peter brought him to the museum showing the supposed forgery.

 

“Who’s the pack rat boy?” Diana raised her eyebrow at Peter while Clinton just smirked at the way that Peter had Neal immediately steal Peter’s desk chair and put his feet up on the desk. Peter was going to yell at him for that later, but right now it was fine. He turned back to them and smiled. “Well, I told you both, El and I have been seeing someone lately-“

 

“Wait, hold on a second, that man looks like the male version of your wife, and _that’s_ who you two decide to date?”

 

Peter blinked at them both for a second before turning back to Neal with wide eyes. Neal was still looking at the file with a sharp eye, and Peter looked back, “He does not look like the male version of my wife.”

 

Diana nodded, “No Clinton, he’s right. He looks like he’s their son.”

 

Peter groaned not completely sure how he should react to that. “Okay, place the judgment aside for a minute. Neal is a top 1% graduate from a fine arts school with a major in paint history and minor in art crimes. Our forgery expert is out sick this week and can’t come in, I trust Neal more than I trust him anyways.”

 

Diana and Clinton nodded, agreeing on that. And it’s not like they had never seen El help out on a case before, but, their boss had a new boyfriend, and that _was_ something that they needed to rib him a little about. Like, all the times he teased them both about having a new girlfriend, or the month before when he came in with an odd sexuality crisis talking about how much he wanted to touch someone’s abs he went to the gym with.

 

The white collar division of the FBI was oddly enough known as the queerest division around. When everyone in a room is queer, it becomes hard to remember all the things you’re not supposed to say to a straight person, might still be too much information here. They’ve all adapted to each other.

 

Peter looked at Neal through the glass and smiled when his boy waved at him, no longer looking at the case file. He waved back and turned to the others. “As far as I can tell, we just need to authenticate, and if it’s a forgery, figure out if the seller knows that or not. Am I good to bring him there and back?”

 

Diana nodded, “Yeah. Straight forward and easy. If Neal is any good, maybe we can use him to replace Davies? That guy freaks us all out.”

 

Peter shrugged, “Neal is an artist, he likes doing, not telling. Think he only really came in with me today because he was upset that I got called in. We were _going_ to spend the day together.”

 

Clinton laughed, “And look at that, pretty boy came with you anyways. He must like you.”

 

Peter couldn’t hold back the stupid grin on his face at that. He really liked the idea of that.

 

He opened up the file again and felt a skip in his heart when he fully read it over. He sat down heavy on the chair across from Diana, making both of them give him a surprised look, “What’s wrong, Peter?”

 

“You... you didn’t tell me who the artist was.”

 

Diana grinned, “Yeah, I thought you’d be excited about that. A Caffrey original. You know, the children’s book illustrator, the one that donates originals to charity auctions. If that man ever turned bad, we’d have a hell of an issue on our hands. He posted a video of himself on his website, forging a Degas. Didn’t do anything with it, but he did it straight down to a shade. This man is a genius.”

 

Peter looked up at her, eyes wide, “Sounds like you’re a bigger fan of him than I am.”

 

Diana felt her cheeks heat up a little, “I spent way too long on his website when I first found out about him. My niece loves his work. The best part is, a lot of his works are for books, and so last year for Christmas, I bought twelve collectors editions of his books with her favorite pictures. It’s very affordable. You... you don’t know who he is?”

 

Peter looked away a little. He kind of wanted to kick himself. Six weeks Neal had been moved in with them, and six weeks, Peter had been so wrapped up in everything Neal is as his little baby boy, that he forgot to ask an important question. Who is _Neal Caffrey_.

 

Of course, he thinks El might have made this mistake too, and so he doesn’t blame himself too much. He knew that Neal was a children’s book illustrator with a good enough turnover rate to afford the elegant life style him and his friend had been living in in June Ellington’s spare apartment. The two of them obviously liked their creature comforts, Peter knows fully well that Mozzie has been over a time or two, happy to drain a bottle of pino with El, and that Neal had taken to going shopping with El because his tastes were a bit refined, but he’d never thought of how _well_ Neal had been doing for himself if he was _that_ Neal Caffrey.

 

He let out the oddest huff of a laugh and looked over at Neal, pointing a finger at him. Neal pointed to himself in question and Peter nodded. Neal smiled and got up with the file he’d gone in with, going through the door connecting Peter’s office to the briefing room with a grin. “I was wondering when it was going to occur to you.”

 

Peter raised an eyebrow as he took a seat next to Peter and closed the file. “Don’t be cheeky, sweetie. I was too busy hoping you wouldn’t get bored and snoop through my _confidential_ files to properly read it through. Though, that can go both ways, why didn’t you tell me you painted this?”

 

Diana and Clinton suddenly got it, looking at Peter and Neal like they were the best show on tv. Neal just shrugged though, opening the file back up to look at the painting. It was a beautiful one of a sweet tan bunny in a field next to a dirt road. It’d never been published though, it was only a find in one of Caffrey’s old apartment buildings, confirmed as his on his website.

 

He’d never tried to claim it though. The controversy around it seemed to spark a lot of want from others around them, and the painting had been bought and sold nearly a dozen times. It wouldn’t be all that much of an issue, but the auction house was saying they knew of two other people who claimed to have the original in their possession.

 

The look on Neal’s face when he saw the painting, even through the picture, was fond and sweet, so much like when Peter and El’s little boy chattered at them about his work down in his studio, or the painting or two he did in their home. It was Neal’s home too now, he could do as he pleased there.

 

“It took me a second to process it, that this is mine... Was such an early work too. Peter Rabbit. You know, I only confirmed that it was mine, because people kept calling it ‘Farm Rabbit’ and that’s just not right. I always loved that book, didn’t like how everyone was messing that up. Otherwise I liked the controversy of it, I loved how no one knew, but everyone still kept asking. As if I’d left such an imprint on everyone’s mind that no one could shut up about it. I almost don’t want to ruin this for you.”

 

Diana cringed, “Ruin it for us? Are you trying to say that you _didn’t_ actually paint this?”

 

Neal shook his head, looking guilty, “No, that’s not it. I painted it... I... I painted all three of them.”

 

Peter was looking at Neal with a slightly new light right now, suddenly seeing a merge between his mischievous little boy, and the sweet artist that everyone else knew him as. “You painted all three of them?”

 

Neal nodded, looking at him directly, but Peter could see a nervous waver in his eyes, making Peter want to fold and hug him close and tell him that he’s still a good boy. He didn’t though. Couldn’t. At least, not with the others watching. “Neal, are you saying that you forged your own paintings?”

 

Neal nodded again, “I _know_ fully well I didn’t do anything wrong, Peter. I looked up copyright laws, I own the original copyright, and I never actually sold the other ones. I donated them to two different homeless shelters, and the shelters, thinking they were both the original, sold them and made enough to help out themselves, _and_ several other shelters around them. I never lied though, they are all the same painting, and all made by Neal Caffrey. I didn’t even have to hide a signature in it, because I signed them all at the bottom anyways.”

 

Peter’s mouth gaped open a little, and he just didn’t even know what to say. “I... I’m not even sure if you committed a crime or not?”

 

Diana shook her head, “I don’t think he did. Other than omitting some information, I don’t think he did anything wrong. There’s no law against this, because I don’t think anyone’s ever done something like this before. Not the original artist at least.”

 

Neal brightened up again, giving Peter big hopeful eyes, “Not in trouble, then? No one that sold them is gonna get in trouble?”

 

Peter thought about that for half a second before pulling in a big breath, “Neal, do you think the homeless shelters are going to get in trouble for this?”

 

Neal shrugged, “Dono, no one’s ever done this before. I dono.”

 

Peter reached a hand out to clasp across the back of Neal’s neck soothingly like he’d done that morning, and Neal relaxed in his seat. He looked littler than he had been that morning, tiny in the chair and upset. “No, sweetie, I don’t think you’re going to get in trouble. I’ll make sure of it.” He turned to Clinton, “Jones, I need you to do a little research into this, just to make absolutely sure he won’t, call me as soon as you can to let us know. Diana, can you track down the other owners? I want to have Neal look at theirs to make sure we don’t have any fakes. If all goes well, and Neal doesn’t get in trouble, I think Neal should make an announcement about what he did. The seller is sure going to love that.”

 

Neal’s brows furrowed, “Why would he love that?”

 

Peter sighed, “By now, you have more popular paintings than Peter Rabbit is, but it’s fame started when everyone was fighting over its controversy. This one, all three of them, are about to become the most popular again. That means they’re going to sell big.”

 

Before Clinton and Diana got up, Diana paused them, “Wait, I need-“

 

“Diana, you can ask him a million and a half questions later, we need to get this done first though.”

 

Diana glared at Peter, “No, this is actually pertinent to our investigation. Neal, why did you do the forgery’s in the first place?”

 

Neal got a sad look on his face again, “I... When I first moved to New York, before Mozzie took me in and all, I wasn’t on the streets or anything, but I did end up in a few halfway houses because I didn’t have much of anything. My parents couldn’t help, one drunk, the other missing, and so before I met Mozzie, he’s the guy that I lived with before Peter, the one that runs my site and gallery for me, taught me a lot too, wouldn’t be anywhere without him. But, before him, there were a lot of other kids there. Run aways, kids like me with nowhere else to to run to, kids without families, and I realized that... that that’s what kept me in New York in the first place. If not for Moz, someone who was doing nearly as bad as I was, I either would have ended up homeless or, somewhere else. I donated the forgery’s so the shelters could get help. I never did it again, that’s when my work picked up and I got money from it, but that painting, it was the only means I had to get them the help they needed.”

 

Diana might have been looking a little starry eyed at Neal, and Clinton was grinning behind his folder, looking soft at Neal, and impressed towards Peter for getting him. Peter, he was just looking at him like he was one of the only things in the world he never wanted to slip away, and he was.

 

***

 

Before they came back to the office from the auction house, confirmed that at least one of the three is the real thing, and an ask that they wait to sell it till a little bit later, Peter took them to a tiny cafe that Neal really liked.

 

The cafe was no stranger to BDSM relationships, having been a popular spot for munches in the Big/little community. Of course, that didn’t mean that Peter wanted to see a sub lead around on a leash inside or anything like that. There were still standards. That sort of thing is shocking in public, and considered rude, by point that it’s involving others who did not consent into a scene with you, and therefore bad. But, Peter, El and Neal were what is considered a low-key BDSM relationship; a relationship that didn’t stop at the end of a scene, or rely on props to keep it going. In this cafe, the workers knew Neal and Peter by sight, and none of them had ever blinked an eye at Neal calling them ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ before, not when they all started dating six months ago, and he didn’t expect it now that Neal was moved in with them. Actually, they’ve been to two munches there since moving Neal in.

 

Peter found a spot close enough to the cafe and leaned over to pull Neal in by the back of his neck. “Hey, little boy, you doing okay right now?”

 

Neal shrugged, “Dono, Daddy. ‘s hard.”

 

“What’s hard, sweetie?”

 

“Being an adult, making a mistake. Least when I’m little, worst mistake I make is being icky mean sometimes and getting in trouble. Being adult is hard.”

 

Peter sighed, kissing Neal’s forehead. “Sweetie, baby, you’re not in trouble. Jones called and said he couldn’t find any law about this at all. You will not be in trouble, because Daddy says no trouble.”

 

Neal nodded, “Glad to know you would excuse so much for me, but I would like to point out, that every warning label on a box, like not sticking your thingy in a hair drier, or eating soap, started out because _someone_ was stupid enough to do it in the first place. I could possibly get in trouble.”

 

Peter shook his head, “Actually no, since there’s no law about it right now, you can’t get in trouble for something that you did before it. Don’t worry, Daddy will protect you from the big mean government.”

 

Neal did let out a small giggle at that, leaning in to press a kiss to Peter’s lips. “More of a sentence Mozzie would like to hear than one I would. But, thank you. Daddy, I love you.”

 

“I love you too, baby boy. Come on, let’s get some lunch before we go back. You like the coffee here.”

 

Neal’s face lit up, getting out of the car after Peter and sidling up to him, slipping their hands into each other, “I get a coffee, Daddy? Not a decaf?” Normally, coffee for him was regulated for days when he was working, otherwise, he got a decaf, and if he wanted, caffeinated tea in the mornings on every other day. He was a generally awake person, but Peter and El were trying to get him to take naps in the afternoons to help regulate a littler schedule for him.

 

Peter nodded, holding open the cafe door for them. There were only a few other people in the room, the two baristas included in that short list, and one of them smiled at them, recognizing them from the munches. The other one looked a little new.

 

“Yeah, baby, you get a coffee, not decaf, and Daddy will even let you choose something extra sugary today if you want.”

 

Neal was practically buzzing with excitement right then. This is a real treat for him.

 

“You two up to something important today? Last I heard, this one was on dacaf only.” The barista knew them pretty well, and her and Neal tended to joke a lot, so she wasn’t afraid to send a small ribbing at them. It worked pretty well when Neal giggled again.

 

“Not only. But Mommy and Daddy want me to nap in the days, can’t today though. I’m going in to work with Daddy, and it’s kind of fun. I like it.”

 

“He works with the FBI, right? That does sound like fun.”

 

Peter put in his coffee order and listened as Neal ordered something with so much sweetness in it, it might not be actual coffee anymore, before nudging the little into ordering them lunch too.

 

When they left with coffee and food to bring back to the office, Neal was already excited at getting to see if the other paintings were the ones he did. He really did want to see where they ended up.

 

***

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I meant to call, the other paintings won’t be in for a few days at least, since they wandered off so far, you didn’t have to bring Neal back with you.”

 

Peter shrugged at Diana, watching Neal head off to his office without him. “Eh, I didn’t want to leave him at home anyways. Like I said, we were supposed to spend the day together. He can draw here and keep me company while I do paperwork. If he really starts getting annoying or antsy, I’ll send him out here to have a nice chat with you.”

 

Diana did look interested in that idea, but kept it to herself, just grinning at him.

 

***

 

In the end, one of the three was a forgery, and the conspiracy of that coupled with the six year confusion as to who had the real one (and who still has the real one), and who now _actually_ has the last one, the last painting sold for twice what it had been hoping for before.

 

Mommy and Daddy reassured him multiple times, that he was not in trouble for this, and by the end of it, Neal actually felt a little proud that people liked his work so much.

 

***

 

Going to work with Mommy was must less full of surprises, but she had a big squishy couch in her office, and she made him take an icky little boy nap in there during the afternoon. Of course, he had actually been tired, and Mommy says that when he’s tired, he becomes a tiny hellion, but still, rude of you, Mommy.

 

“What’s wrong, pumpkin? You upset at Mommy right now?”

 

Neal sighed, shaking his head, but his voice sounded like he was in the littler side of his headspace right now, fiddling with the paci he’d had in during his nap, “No, Mama, Neal is not upset, but is sleepy. Doesn’t like being woken up.”

 

“If I didn’t wake you up, you’d be up all night.”

 

Neal shoved the paci back in, sucking hard a few times with a grumpy look on his face.

 

Neal was a grumpy baby when he was sleepy.

 

***

 

The first time Neal got hurt with them, which, both Mozzie and Neal himself warned them, was _going_ to happen, because Neal attracts trouble like a magnet, and hurts things like it’s his job in life, just about all hell breaks loose.

 

El had called him, sounding close to tears saying that Neal had tripped in the park that morning and had a broken leg. Peter, along with Jones who was in the car with him at the moment, was driving to the hospital before he even hung up. Jones looked like he might get a cab to the office when they got to the hospital, but Peter knew he wouldn’t. Jones was a sucker for drama in most forms, and was probably totally ready to see things. Peter was okay with that, simply because just the call itself had shaken him up a little –his baby boy had gotten _hurt_ \- and Jones was also very good at keeping Peter from doing stupid things, so this would be okay.

 

When he got in, he was shocked to hear his own voice, high and rather unstable. “Is he okay?”

 

Neal was laying back on the bed, looking a lot more chilled out than Peter expected, and had Mozzie’s arms around his shoulders, rubbing gently at Neal’s upper arm. Neal was snuffling into him, looking half a second away from falling asleep.

 

“Oh god, not you too, sit your ass down right now before I make you sit it down.”

 

Peter gave him a wide eyed look, never having heard Mozzie talk like that, and gingerly took a seat next to his wife, against the wall on some chairs. Jones was watching them all in fascination. Peter was concerned to realize that it did actually make him feel more stable.

 

“Thank you. Now, in case you’ve gone blind, Neal is fine. High as hell and he says he already hates his cast, but he’s _fine_ , alright? He broke his leg, it didn’t even bleed, no excessive bruising, and completely clean. He’s fine. All you two have to do is keep your blood pressure down long enough to make it out of the hospital alive and take care of him while he complains about being hurt.”

 

Both looked like they wanted to protest, but Mozzie stopped them, holding a hand up. “El, what do you do when a five year old falls over?”

 

El looked like that might be a trick question, cautiously answering, “Uh, make sure they’re okay?”

 

Mozzie nodded, “Yup. What happens when you freak out in front of them though? If your toddler falls over, and you start crying, what’s they’re reaction going to be?”

 

Peter lit up a little, _he_ knew the answer to this one, “They’ll freak out too!”

 

Mozzie raised an eyebrow at his excited reaction and nodded, “Yes. When the baby gets hurt, and the parents cry about it, that’s now convinced that tiny little infant that they’re totally going to die, and should be _very_ upset about it. That’s how you need to treat Neal. Like he’s a small child who doesn’t know how his own body works, and if he gets hurt, he’s looking to you for reassurance that he didn’t hurt himself _too_ bad. A broken bone? Not an issue.”

 

The others in the room both nodded, and Neal let out a snore into Mozzie’s neck. Clinton looked at all of them with big eyes, “How do you know that much about him getting hurt?”

 

Mozzie raised an eyebrow at him, “Neal is physically incapable of not getting hurt as often as he possibly can. The longest he’s ever gone without a hospital visit while living with me, for over seven years now, is six months, and the longest without a broken bone, is about a two years. He’s not good at not getting hurt. Also, who the hell are you?”

 

Clinton gaped for a second before pointing to Peter, “I work with him. Was in the car when El called.”

 

Mozzie nodded, “Good enough answer. You may proceed to stay, or leave as you feel like it. Your choice.”

 

Clinton thought about it for a second before turning to Peter, “If you’ll be fine, then I’ll take a cab back to the office, yeah?”

 

“Yeah, good plan.”

 

***

 

Neal with a broken bone, was oddly still. Of course, that could either be because of the pain pills, or because it was hard to hobble around on his leg, but either way, it was interesting.

 

El and Peter were taking turns staying home with him, and Mozzie came by when they couldn’t, which had actually lead to a lot of frustrated noises from Neal and shoving them both out the door with a scowl one morning while snippily saying that they were suffocating him and he needed some room today.

 

Peter looked over at El with big eyes, “I thought he liked being with Mommy and Daddy all day?”

 

El shrugged, “Maybe he’s just not into the idea of Mommy and Daddy trying to ask him if he’s okay every five minutes. At least when Mozzie babysits, he lets him be for most of the day. I keep trying to fluff his damn pillows, and you offer him food or drink every ten minutes like it’s our jobs.”

 

Peter let out a noise of frustration, “I’m his _Daddy_ , I’m _supposed_ to make sure he’s okay! My little boy got hurt.”

 

The door opened behind them again, and Neal shoved a coat out towards El, “You need to wear one of these one day, I don’t get how girls can run around with skin exposed without getting hypothermia and all. I can barely go without a sweater and not freeze.”

 

He closed the door back up before they could both reply though, and they both heard Mozzie laughing behind the door. They looked at each other while El got the coat on, shrugging. Peter sighed and they both headed off towards the car for work.

 

***

 

“They’re annoying, Moz. Peter tried to make me a cake the other day, and nearly burnt down the kitchen. It was funny, but extremely annoying.”

 

Mozzie snorted, getting some stuff out of the fridge for eggs and toast. Neal had a fairly bland palette when he wasn’t feeling so well, and despite the insistence that they all leave him the hell alone before he committed an actual felony, Neal wasn’t feeling all that well.

 

He still hadn’t braved the stairs for more than a few times to shower and get things, but he was essentially sleeping on the couch and had relocated his illustration’s angles. Instead of doing stand up pictures, he was sitting down at the coffee table with entirely new artists’ tools so he could still reach his deadline without compromising his work.

 

“How’s drawing on pain killers?”

 

Neal shrugged, putting bread in the toaster and getting plates out. He was actually fairly efficient in hobbling around with only one leg. Seems this is not an uncommon thing. “Called the publisher the other day. Thank god that I’m an actual legitimate children’s book illustrator, because if I had asked for an unknown ended extension like this back when I was first starting out, I’d have lost that contract so fast my head would spin. Alex told me that she was fine waiting though. Turns out, now days, when a Caffrey original children’s book comes out, it’s more my book than it is the authors, they have to wait for me, or there’s no book.”

 

Mozzie smiled, leaning over to kiss the sitting man on the forehead, something he’d gotten into the habit of back when they were still in that crappy apartment before it all, back when Neal helped Mozzie peddle illegal paintings through the city because that’s the only way they could pay rent on time. Back when Neal would get sick every other week or injure something and be held up on the couch while doing his work. Back then, Neal was an emotional mess, constantly looking for validation that he was a good boy and Mozzie wasn’t going to let him back out on the streets.

 

The more Neal learned that he was loved and cared for, the more Mozzie learned that touching someone doesn’t have to lead to sex, and doesn’t have to be bad. The two of them are pretty sure they both helped each other out back then.

 

And yet, Mozzie still kissed him the way he always had, and it still made Neal feel like he was learning how to not be a wreck again. He was always a wreck before.

 

“Of course they said that. You’re the most popular children’s artist on the market right now. Have you ever thought about writing your own books? You can make them picture books, and that way you don’t have an annoyed author breathing down your neck because they want to publish already.”

 

Neal shrugged, hobbling back to the stools and boosting himself up onto one of them. “Yeah, need to get some good ideas first.”

 

***

 

Neal could get little sometimes. Like, _really_ little.

 

Right now, he was sitting on the floor, paci in his mouth, and a teddy bear in his arms. His name was David, and he was allergic to the grumps, and so Neal wasn’t allowed to be grumpy around him, because he could get sick.

 

“Baby, you don’t wanna come over here and have a bottle with Mommy?”

 

Neal looked up at Mommy, slightly nervous that if he left David right now, someone would get the grumps and they would have to go to the hospital. Kermit the frog looked like he might get the grumps soon. But, he _really_ wanted that bottle. It had fruit punch in it, and not the icky preservative filled kind, this was farmers market good stuffs.

 

Neal looked between David the teddy bear, and Mommy, finally deciding that juice was more important than everything, and crawling over to her. El smiled when he gave her a pout when she took out his paci for him. He was sucking on that, _thank you very much_. Mommy just smiled down at him laying against her chest in her lap, and replaced the lost paci with the nipple of the bottle. “Sleepy sleepy babies need their juice and a nap, don’t they?”

 

Neal frowned up at her, but only with his eyes, because his mouth was full, and his juice actually tasted very good, but it was still very much a frown, to make extra special sure that Mommy knew he didn’t appreciate her telling him how grumpy she thought he was. That was _very_ rude of you, Mommy.

 

She just smiled down at him still though, petting soft fingers through his hair while they laid on the couch. Neal could feel Satchmo nudging into his side with his nose, and looked over to play with the fur on his head, finally pulling back just a little to speak. “Doggy, Mommy.”

 

El nodded, “That’s right, pumpkin baby, Satch is saying ‘hi,’ isn’t he?” Neal nodded, mouth still on the bottle’s nipple. “That’s right baby, the puppy loves you and just wants to make sure his sleepy baby is okay. Mommy wants to make sure that her sleepy baby is okay too. Are you okay, baby?”

 

Neal looked up at her with big loving eyes. It amazed him sometimes, how big and in charge his mommy and daddy could be. Neal struggled being big on the few times he actually had to be, but Mommy and Daddy did it effortlessly. It was amazing. He loved his mommy so so so much. He nodded, feeling himself fall asleep. Weird. He could have sworn he was fully awake a second ago. Wow, Mommy really _does_ know all.

 

He reached up a hand to rub tiredly at his eyes before letting them close.

 

Sometimes it was best to listen to adults.

 

***

 

When Peter got home for lunch that day, he was immediately shushed upon entering. His brows furrowed, before his eyes softened when he saw Neal on the couch, hugging his oddly named bear while sleeping the rest of the drugged. He cooed at it for a minute before following his wife into the kitchen. “How’s our baby today?”

 

El smiled fondly, “He had a case of the grumps earlier, but I made him take an early nap and he’ll probably be back to normal when he wakes up.”

 

Peter nodded, “Hmm, easier than my day at least. Diana and Jones keep dropping hints that we don’t invite them for dinner enough anymore. While I would be _fine_ having them over, I’m not actually sure if Neal would...”

 

El thought about that for a moment, “Neal loves people, and he already loves Diana and Clinton, but I’m not so sure he’d be able to be big enough for long enough for them to come over. I mean, we could play it off as him being on pain killers, or have it when he’s out with Mozzie at some point, but they still might wonder about our relationship...”

 

Peter sighed into El’s hair, wrapping around her from behind while she made up three plates for lunch. “Sometimes I think it would just be easier to tell them we have a full time little at home.”

 

“It would. But you best be completely certain they’re not going to take it badly before you try. I don’t want anyone doing something that might upset Neal. Also, talk to him about it first. Now, go wake our son up, he needs to eat something.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

***

 

“You’re such a cutie when you’re so little, Neal. Daddy just wants to cuddle you forever, yes he does!” Okay, so, even El was kind of getting freaked out by the baby talk, but she was actually mostly amused, watching Neal blush and try to hide his face from Peter while he cooed at him. Neal’s cute flushed cheeks were bulging a little with the pasta that Peter was feeding him, and he was just so darn _little_ right now. Normally, he could feed himself just fine, but since he’d woken up from his nap, he’d been feeling shy and tiny. At least he didn’t have the grumps though. “Does my little boy want another bite?”

 

Neal chewed and swallowed what was in his mouth, before opening it back up like a baby bird to be fed. After a few more bites, he was all done, something El was thankful for, since he’d barely eaten anything today so far, and got up to take their dishes to the sink. “Baby, I can get him cleaned up, you have to be back at work soon anyways.”

 

Peter sighed, frowning when Neal whined at him, feeling clingy. “I’m sorry, sweetie, Daddy has to go back to work. But I’ll be home as soon as I can today. I’ll even play with you and cuddle you and read you a story before bedtime tonight.”

 

Neal didn’t want his daddy to go, but he conceded, reaching out grabby hands for his good-bye hug, which Peter gave him without protest.

 

_Better be home early, Daddy._

 

***

 

"I don’t like you." Peter looked up from the table covered in work folders and smiled at his grumpy little.

 

"Oh? Don't worry, Neal, I still love you though."

 

Neal just pouted, crossing his arms and turning away from Peter entirely. Peter just smiled at his cute expression and went back to his files. Neal was finally out of his cast and able to move freely about, but since he’s been home with them so much, it’s actually going to take a little bit longer for Neal to get out of his little headspace and back into his studio to work alone. He was home with Daddy today.

 

"You know, you could have gone with Mommy to the store. I told you I had a lot to work on today."

 

Neal frowned and turned back to him, looking chastised. "I know, Daddy. But I wanted to spend the day with you."

 

Peter felt guilty at that, cringing a little while he looked at the files before gathering them all up on a whim. "C'mon baby. We'll go cuddle on the couch, will that help a little?"

 

Neal was out of his seat and tugging on Peter's arm before he could finish and for a moment Peter wondered if he was being played. He rolled his eyes at himself though. Manipulation would always be an issue with Neal, but using it for cuddles was innocent and kind of cute.

 

Yes yes, one day he might move onto cookies and extra time awake even though Mommy said 'bed time,' but they could destroy the habit there. Manipulating into giving cuddles was a good way to use his amazing skills with conning, Peter thought.

 

He grabbed the stack of folders and let Neal pull him into the living room and to the couch, swiping the remote along the way. Peter handed him the remote and said very sternly, "Quietly, and only the shows Mommy and Daddy say are okay, Baby."

 

Neal nodded like it was some large task (which for little Neal, it kind of was) and went to look for something to watch while Peter reset up his folders.

 

When El came home from the store less than half an hour later Peter had abandoned his folders to cuddle the happily giggling boy in his arms while they watched Spiderman.

 

El almost didn't want to know what got Peter to stop working, she was just glad he finally did.

 

"And how are my boys today?"

 

Neal looked up with an excited grin on his face, pulling out of Peter's arms to give El a kiss and help her with the groceries.

 

"I'm a happy boy today, Mommy! Daddy said so. Also, Daddy says that good boys get kisses and cuddles. So he gave me kisses and cuddles."

 

Peter followed them into the kitchen with a smile of his face and watched them unload the bags, sliding his arms around Neal's waist so he could rest his chin on Neal's shoulder. El just grinned at him and helped him load groceries into the pantry. “You know what else good little boys get?”

 

Neal looked up with bright eyes, “Wha’s that?”

 

El smiled at him and ushered him back into the living room. Neal frowned when Peter’s arms slipped off of him to let him go, but went anyways because Mommy was here and that was an important person too.

 

El pushed him down into the couch with a grin, and Neal kept a hold on her hand, feeling clingy and little right now. El just smiled harder and leaned in to press a kiss to her little boy’s cheek.

 

El motioned for Peter to come over to her and help her out of her jacket. She pulled out a slim, but big box from her coat and gave Peter a meaningful look. Peter understood what she meant right away and his face lit up like Christmas.

 

They both came over to sit on either side of their little boy, and Peter gently coaxed his thumb out of his mouth to replace it with his pace, since he seemed to be so little right now. Neal’s other hand was curled around David the teddy bear, and it was the cutest thing, how he looked up at them with big trusting eyes. El handed him the box, a smooth baby blue with a darker blue ribbon that matched his eyes, tied in a bow around it. He looked to them for confirmation before going to pull the ribbon off and open it.

 

The gave him encouraging smiles and waved him on. Neal gave them a bright smile and slid the heavy velvet box open, letting out a small gasp.

 

It was a thin collar, about a finger and a half wide, but black with a dark blue strip down the center, and a buckle in the back. There was no lock, and no tags, and Neal didn’t actually want either, so it pleased him very much to see that.

 

Of course, they’d talked about this, he just never thought it’d happen so soon. He didn’t realize his hand was on the back of the paci button until El pulled his face up to look at her. “I know we talked about collaring you soon, and the order I put in just arrived at the shop. I couldn’t wait a second longer, and I don’t think Peter could either.”

 

Neal looked over at him for confirmation, and the man smiled and leaned in to pepper kisses over Neal’s paci button and cheeks, making Neal giggle, and then giggle harder when El did the same thing to the other side.

 

When they buckled him into it, it was amazing. He’d never felt better.

 

Never felt so much like he just _fit_.

**Author's Note:**

> ageninenine.tumblr.com is a blog that I am integrating for White Collar, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and Criminal Minds ageplay. Come check it out, give me ideas, talk to me. Really, talk to me. I'm so lonely.


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